NWI INGO General Post - Part 8

[melensdad]

So what you are telling us is you can drive if from the backseat while being shot at like James Bond......PERFECT for driving in chicago!!

Pretty much!

 

[bradmedic04]

Gonna be your next ride?

 

[melensdad]

Gonna be your next ride?

No. Like I said, just can't wrap my head around the lack of range, especially given how far outside the city I live. Looking at buying my wife an Audi A5 Convertible or a MB E350 Convertible for her next car. For me, I'm looking at the MB CLS550, the E-Class Sedan with the Diesel engine, the Audi A6 Diesel and the Audi A7 Diesel, possibly the next generation Volvo S80 ... maybe a SUV for me like a MB GL or Chevy Tahoe? But the wife's car will come first. Probably by spring. I'm not in any hurry. My Touareg is still ticking along without major issues, has plenty of luxury since it was fully loaded when I bought it, so I'm good for a while.

 

[jedi]

He also forget to tell you the .gov can control it remotly and ensure he crashes and dies in an "accident" for his anti .gov talk.

 

[melensdad]

He also forget to tell you the .gov can control it remotly and ensure he crashes and dies in an "accident" for his anti .gov talk.

.gov has a radio controlled raccoon that they have stationed in your attic.

 

[jedi]

Hey
....

 

[actaeon277]

.gov has a radio controlled raccoon that they have stationed in your attic.

That there is funny

 

[KLB]

Sister flew in from London for the weekend. She is staying with our friends in Chicago so I went up there early this morning, left my sister and my friend and I went out in his new Tesla. I've been to the showroom, played with them, but never spent any appreciable amount of time in one before. Faster than any Ferrari that I've ever driven, and its a big 4 door sedan. Comfortable. And the technology is simply astounding with only 2 buttons on the entire car. 1 to open the glove box, the other to turn on the emergency flashers. Everything else is touch screen. Live internet streaming while driving, live traffic congestion, live satellite, HD radio, XM radio, the car is also a wi-fi hotspots for itself and your other devices, and everything can also be controlled from your iPhone too!

About the only thing I just can't like is the range. It goes about 265 miles between re-charges and it re-charges at a rate of about 30 miles per hour of charge time. There are rapid charge stations in a FEW selected spots in the Chicago area, mostly the North shore areas.

I would love one. 265 miles would be plenty for me. It is 110 miles a day into the city and back. They ended up being a little too pricey though.

 

[melensdad]

I would love one. 265 miles would be plenty for me. It is 110 miles a day into the city and back. They ended up being a little too pricey though.

I could easily live with the range of 265 miles if it was not a primary car. But I treat all our cars as primary cars. Just as likely to hop in any one of them and go on a road trip. But no real way to take one of these on a road trip.

As for price, its a premium ultra-performance luxury car. Faster than an Audi "RS" series, faster than a Mercedes "AMG", faster than a BMW "M" series. Literally faster than a Ferrari from a stop. Its astoundingly fast with instant torque and the acceleration doesn't quit or jerk like a car with a multi-gear transmission. Price wise, the car is in the same price range as big Mercedes AMG, Audi RS or BMW M sedan. So from the value standpoint its not over priced considering what you get and what it compares to. So you get some pretty extreme performance, plus some extreme luxury features like real leather dash board, real suede headliners, full leather (not just seating surfaces) interior, actual lambswool carpeting, etc.

The dashboard is just a GIANT size touchscreen, which is about 2.5 times the size of an iPad's touch screen. Probably about 10 to 12 inches wide by almost 2 feet tall. It takes up the entire center column of the dash. Everything from internet to the live traffic to the air conditioning to the adjustment of the ride height, suspension tuning, etc are controlled by the touch screen. I'm not convinced it is the best interface and honestly think some "hard controls" for some things like the climate control systems may be better left to knobs and/or buttons that are separate from the touch panel. But it is an amazing system and nothing else like it exists.

 

[jedi]

Because it's the pre cursor to remove the man from the equation. Think minority report where you get in the car and it goes and takes you to where you want to go. You just sit there read your tablet.

 

[actaeon277]

Dropped 12 racoons of this morning at Jedi's house.

 

[KLB]

I could easily live with the range of 265 miles if it was not a primary car. But I treat all our cars as primary cars. Just as likely to hop in any one of them and go on a road trip. But no real way to take one of these on a road trip.

As for price, its a premium ultra-performance luxury car. Faster than an Audi "RS" series, faster than a Mercedes "AMG", faster than a BMW "M" series. Literally faster than a Ferrari from a stop. Its astoundingly fast with instant torque and the acceleration doesn't quit or jerk like a car with a multi-gear transmission. Price wise, the car is in the same price range as big Mercedes AMG, Audi RS or BMW M sedan. So from the value standpoint its not over priced considering what you get and what it compares to. So you get some pretty extreme performance, plus some extreme luxury features like real leather dash board, real suede headliners, full leather (not just seating surfaces) interior, actual lambswool carpeting, etc.

The dashboard is just a GIANT size touchscreen, which is about 2.5 times the size of an iPad's touch screen. Probably about 10 to 12 inches wide by almost 2 feet tall. It takes up the entire center column of the dash. Everything from internet to the live traffic to the air conditioning to the adjustment of the ride height, suspension tuning, etc are controlled by the touch screen. I'm not convinced it is the best interface and honestly think some "hard controls" for some things like the climate control systems may be better left to knobs and/or buttons that are separate from the touch panel. But it is an amazing system and nothing else like it exists.

From what I have read it isn't quite that fast. Car and Driver puts it at 13.3 secs for a quarter mile and 4.6sec 0-60. This is for their top of the line car at 105K. The RS and AMG would leave it in their exhaust. They both are in the low 3s 0-60 and around 12 sec quarter miles.

They originally said they were going to start in the 50-60K range, at which price I would have seriously thought about buying one. They ended up in the 70-105K range, which was too much for me.

 

[bradmedic04]

Dropped 12 racoons of this morning at Jedi's house.

 

[bradmedic04]

How long do the tesla batteries last, and what's the replacement cost when they no longer hold a charge? That can't be cheap.

 

[melensdad]

Because it's the pre cursor to remove the man from the equation. Think minority report where you get in the car and it goes and takes you to where you want to go. You just sit there read your tablet.

Actually quite the opposite. This is a DRIVERS CAR by every definition. Its astoundingly responsive and fast. You WANT to get in the drivers seat. You WANT to actually DRIVE this car on winding roads, you WANT that idiot kid in the 5.0L Mustang Cobra to challenge you at the stoplight...

From what I have read it isn't quite that fast. Car and Driver puts it at 13.3 secs for a quarter mile and 4.6sec 0-60. This is for their top of the line car at 105K. The RS and AMG would leave it in their exhaust. They both are in the low 3s 0-60 and around 12 sec quarter miles.

They originally said they were going to start in the 50-60K range, at which price I would have seriously thought about buying one. They ended up in the 70-105K range, which was too much for me.

The speed is very deceptive because of the amazing torque response of the electric motors. Perhaps its not going to 1/4 mile smoke an RS, but its a bit cheaper than an RS7 too, and clearly more exotic.

The technology is so different that I've seen nothing like it in any Audi at any price, not any MB at any price, etc.

I do think there is a market for a trimmed down version without the ultra-lux interior. Remember for $60,000 you get a Mercedes E-Class with vinyl seats, and if you upgrade to leather you only get leather seating surfaces. So there is room for an E-Class version of that would appeal to the near-luxury buyers at a lower price point.

How long do the tesla batteries last, and what's the replacement cost when they no longer hold a charge? That can't be cheap.

Guaranteed for 8 years and UNLIMITED miles.

 

[Ericpwp]

Electric motors don't suffer from the torque curve that internal combution engines do. IMO I don't think electric cars will catch on until a standard battery comes around that can be swapped out with a fully charged one in the time it takes to fill the tank. Charge times are just too long.

 

[jedi]

No way eric the gas monopoly will never allow it.

 

[melensdad]

Electric motors don't suffer from the torque curve that internal combution engines do. IMO I don't think electric cars will catch on until a standard battery comes around that can be swapped out with a fully charged one in the time it takes to fill the tank. Charge times are just too long.

I agree.

And while I like this car for all that it delivers I would not buy one because of the very shortcomings that it offers.

 

[Ericpwp]

No way eric the gas monopoly will never allow it.

They alreay got beat out on the kerosene business by Tesla once.

 

[aclark]

I've seen a couple Teslas around NWI, and while I have yet to even sit in one, let alone drive one, I still drooooooool.

I'm interested in what will come of the new VW SUV concept, sounds promising, but who know what will actually be delivered.
Volkswagen CrossBlue Concept Prototype Drive ? Review ? Car and Driver

Just ordered a full set of LED interior lights for my Passat, as well as LED DRLs. Still undecided if I want to go with HIDs, and if so if I want the LED strip, ribbon, or angel eye version, at ~$700 a set I'm going to be damn sure before I order.